In Conclusion... Well Sort Of.

           Well I finished the Daniel Fast but I guess I didn't really finish. I went back to my normal vegetarian diet with milk and eggs and sugar and after about a week of that I just felt yucky. I felt myself falling back into my old habits and I hated it. I was off the fast for three weeks and after that first week I started looking into the idea of going vegan. The more I looked into the more wanted to do it. I got a couple books and decided to try. The first couple days I kind of "yo-yo-ed" it, trying to eat mostly vegan but still slipping, (especially when it came to chocolate!). But I still felt icky after eating those foods. Going vegetarian was a little different for me then most people because I didn't do it solely for the animals, I love animals but it was more for health reasons. It wasn't until after being a vegetarian for a little while that the idea of eating something that was once alive just weirded me out. Just as the more I looked into going vegan the more I saw how terrible all animals are treated and how miserable their lives are just for our purposes. So while I was contemplating this decision I asked God to show me if this what He wanted for me.
       I've been a little slack on my Bible-in-a-year Bible lately and got a little behind; I just kept putting it off or just wanted to read my other Bible. But anyways I picked it yesterday and the story I was on was one in Numbers where God uses a Donkey to speak to this guy named Balaam. An angel appeared on the road that Balaam and his donkey were passing through but only the donkey could see it. The donkey turned and ran in fear of the angel but Balaam didn't see the angel so he beat the donkey. When Balaam tried to go that way again the donkey lay down behind Balaam but again, Balaam beat the donkey because he was unable to see the angel. This happened one more time and then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. Only then did the Lord open Balaam's eyes as well and he saw the angel. The angel told Balaam that he was there because Balaam was stubborn and if the donkey wouldn't have shied away, the angel would have killed Balaam and spared the donkey. I know that was drawn out but I want to share one more thing before I relate that to my decision to go vegan.
      I've had this idea I guess you would call it, especially after reading the Chronicles of Narnia and seeing how all the animals responded to Aslan, that if God would inhabit the earth in all His glory that the animals would just know it was Him, that they would just automatically know Him as their creator and follow Him. Unlike us who have a choice as to what we worship, some of us would see God as the Creator and Father while others would wonder what He was. I don't know if that makes sense, but I just think that the animals just know. Kind of like the donkey that was able to see the glory of the Lord before the stubborn human was.
      I also don't think God designed us to eat animals or anything that comes from them. We didn't begin to consume anything from them until after the fall and I don't think we will be enjoying a nice juicy steak in heaven. I don't know anything about what happens to animals when they leave this earth, but while they are here I do think they need to be respected as God's creations. I don't feel like I have the right to take something from another being just because it tastes good. (but so far the vegan recipes I have tried have been DE-liscous!)
I know that from being vegan for about 3 weeks, to not for three weeks, and this first week back on being a vegan I definitely feel a whole heck of a lot better choosing vegan.
     I'm not saying you’re a horrible person of you eat meat or that you’re a bad Christian or anything like that, these are just my reasons for going vegan and how I feel about it. God has made everything clean and everything permissible for us but that doesn't mean its right for everyone. I hope to choose compassion in every area of my life even the food I eat and make a difference in standing up for the animals that can't do it for themselves.
     Please don't take offense to this!! And I won't give you a nasty look if you eat meat or milk or eggs! :) I just had to organize my thoughts and this help to kind of affirm my decision. These are just some verses that God used to move my heart in this direction.

 The story of Balaam and the donkey was Numbers 22:21-41

"Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is helpful, everything is permissible for me, but I will not be brought under the control of anything."

                                               1 Corinthians 6:12

"Speak up for those who have no voice, for the justice of all who are dispossessed."

                                               Proverbs 31:8   

"Everything on Earth will worship You; they will sing your praises, shouting your name in glorious songs"
                                               Psalm 66:4